Tribology International 110 (2017) 307–317

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Tribology International
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/triboint

Experimental studies of friction-induced brake squeal: Influence of MARK

environmental sand particles in the interface brake pad-disc
⁎
M. Kchaoua, , A.R. Mat Lazimb, M.K. Abdul Hamidb, A.R. Abu Bakarb
a
University of Sfax, ENIS, LASEM, Route Soukra km 4, 3038 Sfax, Tunisia
b
Department of Ocean, Aeronautics and Automotive Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi, Malaysia, UTM, 81310 Skudai,
Malaysia

A R T I C L E I N F O A BS T RAC T

Keywords: The disc brake squeal is a very annoying sound which affects the customer comfort. The generation of this noise
Disc brake is considered as a structural dynamics and/or tribological problems of the pad-disc system. Unlike drum brake
Squeal design, this system is exposed to external environmental sand particles, wear debris and water spray. Their
Environment sand particles presence into the disc and pad interface may create dynamic and physics phenomena induced by friction surface
Wear scar
changes which lead to brake noise and vibration issues. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the effect of
Friction coefficient
environmental sand particles (silica sand and road sand particles) with a range size of 100–150, 150–200 and
Dynamical behavior
300–400 µm on the brake squeal noise occurrences. The sensitivity of the sand particles to produce noise is
correlated with the wear scar, friction coefficient and variation of brake operational parameters. It was
concluded that the primary reason for the reduced squeal noise generation was contributed to the reduced COF
with the particle embedment. The analysis of the particle size influence on the squeal occurrence indicated that a
small size of silica sand particle produces less squeal occurrence than that of road sand particles. However, the
biggest silica and sand particles seriously damage the pad surface and reduce consequently the real contact
surface, inducing a decrease on the friction coefficient.

1. Introduction
Friction-induced noise is usually observed when one metal interface
slides over another and it is generally classified into two categories: (a)
low frequency noise (about 10–500 Hz), known as chatter or groan; (b)
medium and high frequency noise (around 500–18000 Hz), called
squeal [1]. Squeal noise which is a widespread phenomenon in
engineering systems, is considered as a more serious pollution in
modern automobile industry and causes customer dissatisfaction [2].
Brake squeal, which usually falls in the frequency range between 1 and
16 kHz, is one of the most difficult concerns associated with automotive
brake systems [3]. Although many studies have been conducted on the
mechanisms and parameters causing squeal in the objective to reduce
the squeal tendencies, the phenomenon is not yet fully understood and
no complete solutions exist [4]. In fact, it is commonly accepted that
one of the main difficulties encountered in studying brake squeal is the
high complexity of the brake design. Such complexity added to the
coupling between tribological, thermo-mechanical and physicochem-
ical phenomena activated in the sliding contact and acting in synergy,
are the main reasons that did not permit yet to have an effective control
of brake squeal [5]. Besides, the brake squeal induced by friction is
influenced by many parameters like the normal load, relative sliding
speed, nature of the contact surfaces, temperature, etc. [6–8].
Experimental studies which were usually made on pad-on-disc
[9,10], beam-on-disc [11,12], reduced scale brake dynamometer
[13,14] or full scale dynamometer [15,16], have focused on: (i)
correlation between increasing sliding speed and noise levels, (ii)
correlation between friction coefficient oscillation as a function of the
applied load and sliding speed, (iii) measurement procedure to
characterize the brake roughness phenomenon. In this context,
Papinniemi et al. [17] studied the occurrence of brake squeal using a
drag type noise dynamometer for various brake pressures and tem-
peratures. They demonstrated that there was no simple relationship
between the percentage occurrence, brake squeal frequency and brake
pad pressure. Similarly, the influence of temperature on both the
occurrence and frequency of the brake squeal is quite complex.
Lindberg et al. [18] carried out an experimental study of the friction-
induced noise generated by the disc brake system of a passenger car.
They reported that the noise phenomenon is mostly dependent on the
brake pressure and the vehicle speed. Both interior sound pressure

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kchaou.mohamed@yahoo.fr (M. Kchaou).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2017.02.032
Received 1 November 2016; Received in revised form 4 February 2017; Accepted 21 February 2017
Available online 24 February 2017
0301-679X/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Kchaou et al. Tribology International 110 (2017) 307–317

excitation source with contact plateaus. The embedment of silica sand

Nomenclature
particles in the friction layer generated new flat area, responsible of
squeal occurrence which depends on the particle size. It is, therefore,
WP pad without external particle effect
necessary for this research work to explore and investigate the relation
Xi with X {Road sand particle “RP”, Silica sand particle
of dynamic behavior with the contact behavior in an attempt to identify
“SS”}
the root cause of brake squeal in relation to external hard particle
i {100–150 µm “100”, 150–200 µm “200”, 300–400 µm
effect. Thus the aims were to study the braking performance of
“400” µm}
Malaysian pad/disc system affected by external hard particles.

2. Experimental procedure
levels (SPL) and brake system vibrations increased with the increasing
of hydraulic pressure and sliding speed. They concluded that increased
2.1. Samples properties
braking pressure lead to system-altering effects. To study high fre-
quency squeal noise related to the contact stiffness, Sherif [19]
The studied pad material is an organic composite friction material
suggested that the instability of friction-induced vibration was depen-
based on a metal fiber-reinforced organic matrix from Malaysian
dent on the tangential contact stiffness and system stiffness.
production for automotive application. Typical SEM observation of
Researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden carried out brake
the pad surface shows the presence of a multiple of ingredients having
squeal test on brake discs which were shot-blasted to produce small
different shapes and sizes distributed in the phenolic binder (Fig. 1),
pits on the surfaces in order to investigate the influence of the disc
particularly millimetric steel fibres and big rubber particles (up to
topography on the generation of automotive brake squeal [20,21]. They
500 µm diameter) and other small mineral elements as identified by
concluded that the generation of brake squeal was strongly depended
EDX analysis, Fig. 2. Mechanical properties, i.e. shear and Young's
on the size of the contact plateaus when they noticed that brake pads
moduli are respectively 30–50 MPa and 150 MPa with a density of
with many small plateaus generate more squeal than pads with few
about 1.90–2.10 g/m3. The average surface hardness value of the pad is
large plateaus. Kumar and Bijwe [22] explored how some aspects of as
85–105 h (Rockwell hardness scale). The disc material of the brake
a rise in temperature of the disc interface, scoring and noise/squeal
system is made of gray cast iron which contains graphite flakes in a
decide the interface friendliness on the pad materials. By using a
pearlatic matrix with small quantities of free ferrite and homogeneous
sinusoidal driven pin-on-plate, Chen et al. [23] found experimentally
structure, Fig. 3. This material is generally used thanks to its good
that squeal can occur not only in regions of negative but also positive
physical and mechanical properties [32]. Its chemical composition is
friction-velocity gradients. Further, the occurrence of squeal could not
given in Table 1.
be attributed to modal coupling. Nishioka et al. [24] reported that
squeal occurred at low temperatures was more dominant than high
temperature level. Whereas, Sergienko and Bukharov [25] observed 2.2. External particles preparation and characterization
that the brake squeal was much more likely to occur if it had been
heated up to 250 °C through brake operating (warming up, bedding In this study, two external particles are used, road sand and silica
and drag) and cooled down several times before. sand particles. The road sand particle is chosen due to its common
Among these parameters which have a strong effect on brake presence in the Malaysian road surfaces, while silica sand is considered
squeal, environmental effect such external particles with different the most abundantly available material on the Earth's crust. The silica
nature, composition, shape, size and mechanical properties are well- sand is considered as a promising ceramic material owing to its high
known to play a crucial role in brake performance [26–28]. As they are hardness, high compressive strength, thermal stability and light weight
introduced into the contact, they affect topography, effective contact [33]. These particles are collected from the southern Malaysian areas.
area and interface evolution between brake pad and disc [29–31]. In order to calibrate the particles by size, sieving of road sand particles
Despite the number of researches which focused on the effect of brake is carried out. This experiment is carried out for 1–5 h, according to the
conditions on the brake squeal generation, limited are the studies required size to select particles in the range of 100–150, 150–200 and
interested to the external particles effects on the squeal noise induced 300–400 µm. The chemical composition of the road sand and silica
by friction and the synergy with temperature, pressure and sliding sand particles is given in Table 2. The basic constituent of the sand is
speed of the brake system. Research in foreign external particles on quartz mineral or SiO2 chemical composition. It contains also feldspar,
brake squeal has not been considered since much interest in the past mica, alkaline oxides and argillaceous minerals. Road sand particles
researches were related to the effect of abrasive particle, composition, contain mainly aluminum, silicon and iron oxide particles. Some
wear particles, airborne particles, wear debris and friction film, on properties of these particles are summarized in Table 3. The size
surface characteristics. Studies of variety of braking environments
(hard particle and water) are rather limited in the tribological
literature. Most researchers are often proposed solutions based on
trial and error, empirical approaches or through most experiences to
formulate high braking performance and non-squealing brake. Many
researchers have not yet reached a comprehensive understanding of the
surface behavior during squealing. There is a lack of scientific research
concerning the influence of external road grit particles on dynamic
behavior and friction layers’ evolution of brake pad. This paper
discussed the effect of two types of external hard particles, road and
silica sand particles, with different size on the noise occurrence
coupling with the tribological behavior of pad/disc system. Whereas
embedment silica sand particles mechanism and detailed worn surface
characterization of the pad-disc system were recently published by
some team on the Ref. [32] as they found that silica sand particles
modify the contact interaction by changing the effective contact area,
increases the excitation frequency and playing the role of an additional
Fig. 1. Typical microstructure of the brake pad (1, 2, 3, 4: EDX analyzed zones).

308
M. Kchaou et al. Tribology International 110 (2017) 307–317

Fig. 2. EDX spectra results, a), b), c) and d) correspond respectively to the ingredients noted “1”, “2”, “3” and “4” on Fig. 1.

Table 2
Weight % composition of road sand and silica sand particles.

Element Road sand Silica sand

Carbon 15.932 –
Oxygen 52.616 58.960
Sodium 0.534 0.807
Magnesium 0.351 –
Aluminum 4.506 2.195
Silicon 8.517 36.375
Sulphur 0.464 –
Potassium 0.635 –
Calcium 4.392 –
Iron 9.013 0.717
Antimony 3.040 –
Chlorine – 0.946

Fig. 3. Gray cast iron microstructure.

Table 3
distribution and the shape of these particles were obtained by SEM Typical silica sand [33] and road sand particle properties.
observations (Fig. 4). Road sand particle (Fig. 4(a)), we distinguish
rounded deformed particles, elongated and consisting of agglomerated Mineral Quartz (SiO2) Road sand particle
Density (g cm−3) 2.656 1.5–2.2
small particles, semi angular shape particles, and elongated particles
Crystal structure (β- Hexagonal Aggregate (Hexagonal, angular and
with prospective sharp corners having a severe abrasive character. For quartz) sub rounded)
the silica sand particles (Fig. 4(b)) are semi-angular but have very Melting point (°C) 1710 1600–1725
sharp edges angles with very low peak. However, some cracks are seen Micro-hardness value 750 to 850 750–850
on the silica sand particle surface. (VHN)
Compressive strength 476 400–600
(MPa)
2.3. Experimental tests set-up: brake dynamometer, instrumentation
and protocol
accelerometer, pressure sensor, microphone, thermocouple, torque
The brake squeal dynamometer architecture is shown in Fig. 5. An meter and speed sensors are used to capture dynamic signals acquired
11 kW electric motor drives the disc up to 3000 r/min, allowing high simultaneously by a data acquiring system. The sampling rate of each
sliding velocity, while a hydraulic actuator applies the normal load on channel of the data acquisition system is 100 kHz, which is sufficient
the pad up to 2 MPa. The device instrumentation allows monitoring of for the sound pressure level signal of 18 kHz maximum frequency and
squeal and thermal behavior. A number of transducers such as the acceleration signal of 10 kHz maximum frequency. The squeal

Table 1
Chemical composition (%wt) of the gray cast iron.

Symb Fe C Si Mn S P Cu Ni Cr Mo

Composition (%) 92.71 3.45 1.86 0.62 0.10 0.045 0.84 0.057 0.28 0.04

309
M. Kchaou et al. Tribology International 110 (2017) 307–317

Fig. 4. Received and pretreated external particles, a) road sand and “i) rounded deformed particles, ii) agglomerated small particles, iii) semi angular shape particles, and iv) elongated
particles” b) silica sand particles.

Feeder
AC motor Coupling Pad finger side Pad piston side
Transparent cover
Disc
50 cm
Fig. 5. Schematic drawing of the brake squeal dynamometer.
frequency can only be confirmed after it is captured both in the
microphone and accelerometer. The initial time domain data recorded
by the microphone and accelerometer are then converted into the
frequency domain using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) available in the
DEWESoft data acquisition processing system. Squeal frequency is
recognized and taken based on the highest peak in the acceleration and
sound pressure level above 70 dB [34].
A pair of pads is used in this study. The disc specimen of 260 mm in
diameter and 22 mm in thickness is made from gray cast iron
(HV=205). The friction surface was progressively polished with abra-
sive papers up to the grade 400. The initial surface roughness values of
the pad and disc specimens were around Ra ~ 2 and 1 µm, respectively.
Prior to the brake tests, all specimens are carefully degreased in alcohol
and acetone. To control and hold the external particles, a pair of small
hopper is connected with two feeder tubes directly to the outer region
of the piston and finger brake pad as illustrated in Fig. 6. Particles with
an amount of 1.71×10−5 m3 are fed into the disc/pad interface for each
brake test. It is expected that this amount of particles is sufficient to
provide a clear observation of its effect on brake squeal occurrences.
The brake end corner is fully covered by a transparent cover to avoid
splashing of the particles during the test. The squeal test parameters
and protocol are mostly taken from the SAE J2521 standard [34]. This
is including the environmental requirement, equipment setup and
calibration, drag test and data analysis procedure. However due to the
limited capacity of the brake squeal dynamometer, the tests are carried
out with the speed up to 10 km/h and a maximum brake application
pressure of 2 MPa. The drag test is executed by performing the
warming-up process until the temperature of the pad and disc coupling
reaches initial temperature 50 °C, 75 °C and 100 °C. Sliding speed,
brake pressure and disc temperature are varied to evaluate the squeal
sensitivity of the pad/disc contact as summarized in Table 4. The total
brake squeal test is 48 cycles. Duration of the braking application is
10 s for each braking cycle. Each cycle is performed at required initial
temperature (50 °C, 75 °C and 100 °C). During preliminary testing, it is
found that the background noise (environment testing room) is
60 dB(A). Therefore, the peak sound level exceeding the threshold of
70 dB(A) is recorded as squeal [34]. The flow rate of particles is
controlled manually into the disc/pad sliding interface for each test.
The particle insertion process is activated during the sliding and
continued for the entire braking process until the squeal occurred.
The friction coefficient for a disc brake application is an average
over the time of the application. The COF is deduced using the
following equation:
Tb
μ=
2 (Pbrake )(Apistonx )(Rdisc )
Particle feeder
and tube
Sand particles
Pads
Disc
Fig. 6. External particle feeder mechanism.

310
M. Kchaou et al. Tribology International 110 (2017) 307–317

Table 4 Table 5
Operating parameters of the brake squeal test. Sensitivity of particles size to the brake pressure.

Operating Brake Initial disc Sliding No. of Braking Particles Brake pressure (MPa)
parameters pressure temperature speed braking duration
(MPa) (°C) (km/h) application for each 0.5 1 1.5
test (s)
Road More sensible size 200 µm 53% 400 µm 47% No significant
Value 0.5; 1; 1.5 50; 75; 100 3; 10 48 10 sand Max of effect
occurrence
Silica More sensible size 200 µm 48% 400 µm 8% No significant
where, sand Max of effect
occurrence

Tb = brake torque (taken from the measurement)

Pbrake = brake line pressure (0.5, 1, and 1.5 MPa)
Apiston = brake piston area (0.655 m2)
Rdisc = disc Brake radius (2.6 m)
3. Squeal occurrence in relation to the experimental
parameters
In this section, squeal noise sensitivity against brake pressure, disc
temperature and sliding speed are presented. This is to observe
whether the presence of sand particles together with those parameters
contribute to squeal occurrences.
The squeal absolute occurrence is the squeal noise occurrence with
sound pressure level equivalent to or higher than 70 dB (A). It is
collected and presented in the form of percentage of absolute occur-
rence. The total number of test brake applications was 48, and it covers
the drag test application at different speeds, pressures and tempera-
tures. Some result data have collected more than 100 squeal occurrence
due to the double squeal frequency and acceleration during squeal
excitation. The formulation is given as follows:
above 120%. However, at hydraulic pressure of 1 MPa, it is reduced to
30% as illustrated in Fig. 7. It is observed that the number of squeal
occurrences on different pressure shows a decreasing trend with the
introducing of the external particles: for silica sand particles (Fig. 7a),
most squeal occurs at pressure of 0.5 MPa (maximum 48% absolute
squeal sound) for the pad with particle size 150–200 µm. The squeal
occurrence continues to decrease at applied pressure 1 MPa to about
17% for particle size 300–400 µm. Further, the percentage of noise
occurrence on a road sand particle effect at pressure level 0.5 MPa
indicates a reduction at approximately 7% of squeal occurrence at
pressure level 1 MPa with particle size 100–150 µm and less than 5%
with particle size 300–400 µm (Fig. 7b). A recapitulation of these
results is summarized in Table 5. The adding of external particles at a
pressure of 1.5 MPa has no significant effect on the squeal occurrence
for all particle sizes. Table 5 summarizes the most sensible particle size
in each brake pressure situation.
3.2. Squeal occurrences vs. initial disc temperature

Noise occurrence,
(Number of brake squeal noise level ≥ 70 dB(A))
% absolute =
(Total of test brake application)
3.1. Squeal occurrences vs. brake pressure
The number of squeal occurrences at different hydraulic pressure is
presented in the absolute percentage occurrence (see Fig. 7). The
percentage of brake applications for the entire test are taken on the
squeal level higher than 70 dB(A) on each particle type (silica sand and
road sand particles) and size (100–400 µm). Results show that the
sample without external particles affects the tendency of squeal noise
occurrence, mostly at the pressure of 0.5 MPa, which is approximately
The number of squeal occurrences on the initial disc temperature is
presented in the form of absolute percentage temperature graphs.
Fig. 8 shows the absolute percentage of noise occurrence on tempera-
ture level with and without particle effects. Results show that, without
external particle, most squeal events occurred on the temperature
between 50 and 70 °C. The percentage of noise occurrence of initial
temperature for Silica Sand particle (Fig. 8a) shows that noise occurred
at temperature levels between 50 and 75 °C except for 150–200 µm
particle size. With the biggest size particle (300–400 µm), no squeal
occurrence is registered. Fig. 8b demonstrates that the noise occur-
rence increased with the increasing particle size, effecting for all tested
disc temperatures for road sand particles. The most dominant of squeal
noise was at an initial temperature of 50 °C for all particle sizes with a
maximum of 110% absolute occurrence. However, no effect of external

Fig. 7. Squeal occurrences against hydraulic pressure with initial disc temperature of 50 °C and sliding speed of 3 km/h:(a) silica sand and (b) road sand particles.

311
M. Kchaou et al. Tribology International 110 (2017) 307–317

Fig. 8. Squeal occurrences against initial disc temperature with sliding speed of 3 km/h and hydraulic pressure of 0.5 MPa: (a) Silica sand and (b) Road sand particles.

Table 6 Table 7
Sensitivity of particles size to the initial disc temperature. Sensitivity of particles size to the sliding speed.

Particle Initial disc temperature (°C) Particle Sliding speed (km/h)

50 75 100 3 10

Road More sensible 400 µm 40% 200 and No significant Road sand More sensible size 400 µm 50% 100 µm 22%
sand size 400 µm 15% effect Max of occurrence
Max of Silica sand More sensible size 200 µm 35% 100 µm 30%
occurrence Max of occurrence
Silica More sensible 200 µm 47% 100 µm 13% No significant
sand size effect
Max of 10000
occurrence

8000

particle is shown at 100 °C. Table 6 illustrates a recapitulation of these

Frequency, Hz

experimental results. 6000

4000
3.3. Squeal occurrences vs. sliding speed

The number of squeal occurrences on the sliding speed is presented 2000

in the form of absolute percentage occurrence, Fig. 9. The result for a

pad sample without external particles effect reveals that squeal noise 0
70 75 80 85 90 95
occurrence was dominated at a speed of 3 km/h by nearly 130%, while Sound Pressure Level, dBA
it is reduced to 12% for disc speed of 10 km/h. As illustrated in Fig. 9a,
Fig. 10. Sound pressure level (SPL) of squeal event during drag braking test without
the presence of silica sand particles at 3 km/h influenced the squeal
external particle effect.
occurrence significantly; noise is reduced to more than 50% with 150–

Fig. 9. Squeal occurrences against sliding speed with initial disc temperature of 50 °C and brake pressure of 0.5 MPa: (a) Silica sand and (b) Road sand particles.

312
M. Kchaou et al.
Fig. 11. Sound pressure level (SPL) of squeal event during drag braking test.
200 µm range. Moreover, the percentage absolute is almost linear with
particle sizes 100–150 µm and 300–400 µm with less than 15% of
squeal occurrence. At the speed of 10 km/h, a similar behavior is
recorded, with a linear reduction to less than 40%. For road sand
particles there is also a reduction in percentage occurrence compared
to the pad without the external particles, Fig. 9b. At 3 km/h, small
particles induced fewer occurrences. The number of squeal occurrences
is higher with the silica sand compared to the road sand at the speed of
10 km/h. Details of these results can be seen in Table 7.
3.4. Squeal occurrences: sound pressure level (SPL) against squeal
frequency
The sound pressure level is plotted against frequency without
313
Tribology International 110 (2017) 307–317
particle effect, Fig. 10. Results show that the frequency level is mostly
concentrated between 1000 Hz and 5000 Hz. A higher sound pressure
level is noticed approximately at 95 dB(A).
Sound pressure level vs. frequency on the effect of road sand and
silica sand particles is illustrated in Fig. 11. Results show that for road
sand particle size 100–150 µm, the frequency range is topmost
between 6000 and 7000 Hz with the maximum 90 dB(A). For particle
size 150–200 µm, the frequency range is reduced between 3000 and
4500 Hz with maximum 80 dB(A). For particle size 300–400 µm the
frequency range is almost at 4000 Hz with maximum 79 dB(A). Silica
sand particles exhibit a quite similar effect compared to the road sand
particles, specifically for higher particle size. In fact, with silica sand
particles, results demonstrate a reduction of frequency range and
squeal level with 2500 Hz and 88 dB(A) for particle size 100–
M. Kchaou et al. Tribology International 110 (2017) 307–317

Fig. 12. Absolute occurrence vs friction coefficient vs particle size of silica sand (SS) and road particles (RP) at pressure=0.5 MPa, speed=3 km/h and temperature=50 °C.

Fig. 13. Frequency vs friction coefficient vs particle size of silica sand (SS) and road particles (RP) of the squealing pad at pressure=0.5 MPa, speed=3 km/h and temperature=50 °C.

Fig. 14. Wear scar of the squealing pad without sand particles (Pressure=0.5 MPa, Speed=3 km/h, Temperature=50 °C).

150 µm, 2000 Hz and 4500 Hz with maximum squeal level 85 dB(A)
for particle size 150–200 µm and 3500 Hz with maximum 82 dB(A) for
particle size 300–400 µm. Compared to the test without external
particles, bigger particles have more significant reduction effect on
the sound pressure level.
4. Friction coefficient evolution at low braking conditions
As the squeal behavior of a brake system is well influenced by the
tribological phenomenon which characterizes the pad-disc contact
[3,10,23], a specific interest is given to the pad friction behavior on
relation to the embedment of external particles. Figs. 12 and 13 show a
correlation between the friction coefficient evolution and the noise
occurrence induced by the road particles size effect with in the case of
low braking conditions (pressure=0.5 MPa, speed=3 km/h and disc
temperature=50 °C). Seeing these figures, it is clear that the highest
value of COF is between 0.6 and 0.7 for particle sizes of 150–200 µm
for both silica sand and road particles with approximately 10 to 35% of
absolute occurrence. Whereas, the squeal frequency range is between
3000 and 5000 Hz. Compared to the pad-disc contact without external
particles effect, the embedment of sand particles at the interface have
reduced the noise occurrence especially with the biggest silica sand
particles. However, the squeal frequency is almost more acute at high
friction coefficient level for both types of external particles. In the range
of 0.5–0.7, no big difference is noticed without the particle embed-
ment.
Nevertheless, the smallest road particle, the highest frequency level
is induced at high friction level.

314
M. Kchaou et al.
Fig. 15. Wear scar of squealing pad with road sand particles (RP) (Pressure=0.5 MPa, Speed=3 km/h, Temperature=50 °C).
In order to correlate the effect of sand particles on the squeal
occurrence, on relation to the friction coefficient evolution, the worn
pad surface without (Fig. 14) and with external particles (Figs. 15 and
16) were examined. A particular attention is given to the damaged
surface topography of pads for the different size of external particles in
low braking condition. As shown in these figures, different regions are
identified:
1. Region “A”: rapid growth of an effective contact area, generating a
fine wears debris which releases certain fragment of sliding material
and provides a softer platform.
2. Region “B”: the area bounded by a dashed line (Figs. 15 and 16)
shows more particles roll, mix and form a friction layer mixed with
friction film itself, increase deposition of wear debris, thus building
up the effective contact area (fully embedded and compacted mixed
sand particles and wear debris).
3. Region “C”: a completely damaged surface area primarily occurred
in the insertion area.
By observation, it is found that most pad surfaces exhibit a worn
area that generally appears discontinuous, heterogeneous and clearly
shows the marks of sliding direction. This is due to the shape of the
silica sand and road particles which consist of different material and
property with higher density level and rougher compared to the sliding
area of the pad without sand particles. However, the pad with silica
sand particles shows larger damaged area compared to the pad with
road particle as observed in Fig. 16. This shows that silica sand
particles are much harder and act as abrasive particles damaging part
of the pad surface. The non-uniform sliding surface is also related to
315
Tribology International 110 (2017) 307–317
the craters and grooves consequence of a synergic effect between sand
particles and wear debris (two bodies and three body abrasion) of
friction material. Some samples are clearly showing the presence of
sand particles on the surface (area B) which indicates a bright spot and
massive worn and rough area as shown in Figs. 15a and 15b for the
road sand particles and Figs. 16a and 16b for the silica sand particles.
It is also found that the external sand particles promoted the grit
embedment as shown in Fig. 15(c, d, e and f) for the road sand particles
and Fig. 16(c, d, e and f) for the silica sand particles. By dominating the
contact area and forming a new surface layer, the secondary contact
plateaus generate more wear debris [32], increase surface roughness
and affect the friction performance by increasing or decreasing the
noise level and friction coefficient (COF).
On relation to the friction evolution, worn pad surface observations
show that sand particles used in this work can significantly influence
the friction response. Furthermore, the increasing trend of friction
coefficient during squealing conditions is also due to the contact
plateau [35], third body [36] and height of asperities [37,38]. The
accumulation and compaction of sand particles, which adhere to the
pad-disc interface agglomerate and form secondary plateaus, is the
causing of the COF increasing [39]. While, the reduction of COF value
with the increasing size of sand particles as seen in Fig. 12 and Fig. 13
is partly owed to reduction of the gap between brake pad and disc
interface, which cause reduction in the effective contact area between
pad and disc [40]. From the experimental results, it can be deduced
that a reduction in the effective contact area will reduce the COF and
subsequently reduce the sound pressure level.
M. Kchaou et al.
Fig. 16. Wear scar of squealing pad with silica sand particles (SS) (Pressure=0.5 MPa, Speed=3 km/h, Temperature=50 °C) [32].
5. Squeal sensitivity to external hard particles: effect of
brake operating conditions
In this experiment, it is seen that the squeal behavior of brake pad
is well influenced by external hard particles when operating parameters
such as brake pressure, sliding speed and disc temperature are varied.
Some factors contributed more to the friction induced noise in a strong
interaction with external particle nature and size. In fact, a significant
squeal occurrence decreasing trend is observed on different pressure
with the increasing size of external particles. The results show that the
contribution of the external particles to the braking did not affect the
squeal propensity during the increasing of pressure since the absolute
percentage occurrence of squeal occurred at low contact pressure of
0.5 MPa. In fact, at low braking pressure, disc and pads are barely
touching. Therefore, the less sliding surfaces are induced. Furthermore,
as described by Eriksson et al. [41], the contact pressure is only
concentrated in limited areas caused by the presence of secondary
plateaus or wear particle decreasing the contact area in the interface.
This phenomenon reduces the effectiveness of contact pressure and
produces less noise [42]. Hetzler and Willner [30] reported similar
results as a pressure-gap p (g) relation at different load (pressure) level
with the specific contact stiffness. They found that the micro-scale
contact properties have a significant influence on the noise and
vibration behavior of the pad, particularly at low and medium contact
pressures. Besides, for all introduced particles with different nature
and size, the temperature level during squeal occurrence varied from
an initial temperature 50 °C to a maximum of 100 °C. This result may
be attributed to the characteristic of squeal noise which is an
unpredictable event, arises and disappears as the temperature is varied.
316
Tribology International 110 (2017) 307–317
However, the initial temperatures 50 °C and 75 °C turn out to be
dominants, in all squeal frequency ranges between 1000 and
10,000 Hz. Furthermore, squeals which occurred at low temperature
were more dominant than at high temperature level. However, the
important feature from the squeal result is its occurrence in the
temperature history of the sliding surface as described by Duffour
[43]: squeal disc brake was much more likely to occur if it had been
heated up to 250 °C through brake operating (warming up, bedding
and drag) and cooled down several times before. In the current
investigation, the temperature rise of the disc is quite linearly propor-
tional to the external particle effect to squeal behavior. This is strongly
supported by previous experimental investigations, who found that the
propensity of squeal may strongly depend on the tribological properties
of the contact, involving parameters such as temperature and loading
history [20,38,42]. Besides, an increasing level of surface temperature
caused a reduction in the pad and disc roughness. Consequently, the
frequency level of the brake components tended to decrease [44]. This
phenomenon is attributed to the thermal power stored in the friction
material, which had to diffuse through the thickness of the pad to be
dissipated to the air [45]. Finally, on relation to the sliding speed
sensitivity, the results show that low sliding speed (3 km/h) strongly
influenced the squeal excitation and dominated the squeal effect. The
effect of sliding speed on the absolute noise percentage is observed at
constant contact pressures of 0.5 MPa and 1 MPa. The decreasing
trend of squeal occurrence during the increasing sliding speed could
have been due to the rupture of asperities on brake pad surface area
hence detached asperities are trapped between the sliding surfaces
which caused high resistance to the relative motion [46]. Similar
description was reported by Lee et al. [47] where it was noticed that
M. Kchaou et al.
the rupture of uneven surface called third body contributed to the
establishment of a transfer film onto the sliding interface. Therefore,
the reduction of squeal percentage occurrence was correlated to the
friction stability at different sliding speed. Furthermore, at high speed,
external particle were less influential due to the speed of the mixing
wear particles in the contact surface (i.e. by the increasing speed,
resulting less effective of contact area). While at low speed the low
mixing of the small particles result in high compacted friction film,
which reduced pores and surface gap between sliding surface inducing
a stable friction layer. As explained by Hamid et al. [26], about the
dynamic effect of external particle, higher speeds cause grit particles
not only to be involved in building up the effective contact area at
sliding interface but also in reducing the rate of contact changes
occurring at the interface.
6. Conclusion
In this work, the sensitivity of the sand particles (road and silica
sand particles) to produce noise is studied. Experimental investigation
is correlated to the wear scar, friction coefficient and variation of brake
operational parameters. This research extends our earlier work in this
area, and highlights new conclusions:
1. The primary reason for the reduced squeal noise generation was
contributed to the reduced COF with the particle embedment.
2. External particles have the most strong effect on the reduction of
brake squeal at the highest energy level (3 km/h, 10 MPa and 75 °C).
3. The trend of squeal occurrence demonstrated that the increasing size
of external particle induced a lower squeal sound level.
4. At high speed, sand particles appear less active due to accelerated of
mixing wear particles in contact areas and spread away by the
increasing speed resulting less effective of contact area.
As a recommendation from this study in order to achieve a lower
level of squeal with the presence of external hard particle, the
ingredients in the brake friction materials should be carefully selected
after thorough evaluation and proprietary friction additives are often
used in commercial products.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
(UTM) and Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) for providing
research Grant under GUP Tier 1 (Vot. 00H37 and Vot. 08H97).
References
[1] Kinkaid NM, O‫׳‬Reilly OM, Papadopoulos P. Automotive disc brake squeal. J Sound
Vib 2003;267:105–66.
[2] Massia F, Baillet L, Giannini O, Sestieri A. Brake squeal: linear and nonlinear
numerical approaches. Mech Syst Signal Process 2007;21:2374–93.
[3] Hochlenert D, Spelsberg-Korspeter G, Hagedorn P. Friction induced vibrations in
moving continua and their application to brake squeal. Trans ASME J Appl Mech
2007;74:542–9.
[4] Spelsberg-Korspeter G, Hochlenert D, Kirillov ON, Hagedorn P. In- and out-of-
plane vibrations of a rotating plate with frictional contact: investigations on squeal
phenomena. Trans ASME J Appl Mech 2009;76, 006/1–041.
[5] Popescu IN, Ghiţă C, Bratu V, Navarro GP. Tribological behaviour and statistical
experimental design of sintered iron–copper based composites. Appl Surf Sci Part A
2013;285:72–85.
[6] Taha Sen O, Dreyer JT, Singh R. Feasibility of controlling speed-dependent low-
frequency brake vibration amplification by modulating actuation pressure. J Sound
Vib 2014;333:6332–48.
[7] Wang DW, Mo JL, Ouyang H, Chen GX, Zhu MH, Zhou ZR. Experimental and
numerical studies of friction-induced vibration and noise and the effects of groove-
textured surfaces. Mech Syst Signal Process 2014;46:191–208.
[8] Renaud F, Chevallier G, Dion J-L, Taudière G. Motion capture of a pad measured
with accelerometers during squeal noise in a real brake system. Mech Syst Signal
Process 2012;33:155–66.
[9] Kado N, Sato N, Tadokoro C, Skarolek A, Nakano K. Effect of yaw angle
misalignment on brake noise and brake time in a pad-on-disc-type apparatus with
317
Tribology International 110 (2017) 307–317
unidirectional compliance for pad support. Tribol Int 2014;78:41–6.
[10] Yoon SW, Shin MW, Lee WG, Jang H. Effect of surface contact conditions on the
stick–slip behavior of brake friction material. Wear 2012;294–295:305–12.
[11] Akay A, Giannini O, Massi F, Sestieri A. Disc brake squeal characterization through
simplified test rigs. Mech Syst Signal Process 2009;23:2590–607.
[12] Tarter JF. Instabilities in a beam-disc system due to friction [Ph.D. thesis].
Carnegie Mellon University; 2004.
[13] Abu Bakar AR, Ouyang H. Complex eigenvalue analysis and dynamic transient
analysis in predicting disc brake squeal. Int J Veh Noise Vib 2006;2:143–55.
[14] Sanders PG, Dalka TM, Basch RH. A reduced-scale brake dynamometer for friction
characterization. Tribol Int 2001;34:609–15.
[15] Sarkar C, Hirani H. Development of a magneto-rheological brake with a slotted
disc. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part D: J Automob Eng 2015;1:1–18.
[16] Thiyagarajan V, Kalaichelvan K. Effect of heat dissipaters in a NA disc brake pad –
wear performance and influence on µ sensitivity towards pressure and speed, In:
Proceedings of the 40th leeds-lyon symposium on tribology and tribochemistry
forum 2013, September 4–6, Lyon, France; 2013.
[17] Papinniemi A, Lai JCS, Zhao J, Loader L. Brake squeal: a literature review. Appl
Acoust 2002;63:391–400.
[18] Lindberg E, Hörlin NE, Göransson P. An experimental study of interior vehicle
roughness noise from disc brake systems. Appl Acoust 2013;74:396–406.
[19] Sherif HA. Investigation on effect of surface topography of disc/pad assembly on
squeal generation. Wear 2004;257:687–95.
[20] Eriksson M, Jacobson S. Friction behaviour and squeal generation of disc brakes at
low speeds. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part D: J Automob Eng 2001;215:1245–56.
[21] Hammerström L, Jacobson S. Surface modification of brake discs to reduce squeal
problems. Wear 2006;261:53–7.
[22] Kumar M, Bijwe J. Studies on reduced scale tribometer to investigate the effects of
metal additives on friction coefficient – temperature sensitivity in brake materials.
Wear 2010;269:838–46.
[23] Chen GX, Zhou ZR, Kapsa P, Vincent L. Experimental investigation into squeal
under reciprocating sliding. Tribol Int 2003;36:961–71.
[24] Nishioka M, Hara Y, Nomoto M, Ono M. Brake squeals after standing at low
temperatures, SAE technical paper 2006-01-3190; 2006 〈http://doi.org/10.4271/
2006-01-3190〉.
[25] Sergienko VP, Bukharov SN. Vibration and noise in brake systems of vehicles. Part
2: Theoretical investigation techniques. J Frict Wear 2009;30:216–26.
[26] Abdul Hamid MK, Stachowiak GW, Syahrullail S. The effect of external Grit particle
size on friction coefficients and grit embedment of brake friction material. Procedia
Eng 2013;68:7–11.
[27] Hussain S, Abdul Hamid MK, Mat Lazim AR, Abu Bakar AR. brake wear particle
size and shape analysis of non-asbestos organic (NAO) and semi metallic brake pad.
J Teknol (Sci Eng) 2014;71:129–34.
[28] Mat Lazim AR, Abu Bakar AR, Kchaou M. The study of disc brake noise on three
different types of friction materials. Appl Mech Mater 2014;663:113–8.
[29] Abdul Mokti MFF, Abdul Hamid MK, Abu Bakar AR. Humidity and water effect on
wear characteristics of disc braking system. Appl Mech Mater 2016;819:612–7.
[30] Hetzler H, Willner K. On the influence of contact tribology on brake squeal.
Tribology Int 2012;46:237–46.
[31] Nasaruddin MA, Abdul Hamid MK, Mat Lazim AR, Abu Bakar AR. Effects of
external hard particles on brake noise of disc braking system. Appl Mech Mater
2013;388:213–6.
[32] Mat Lazim AR, Kchaou M, Abdul Hamid MK, Abu Bakar AR. Squealing char-
acteristics of worn brake pads due to silica sand embedment into their friction
layers. Wear 2016;358–359:123–36.
[33] Gupta AK, Dan TK, Rohatgi PK. Aluminum alloy-silica sand composites: prepara-
tion and properties. J Mater Sci 1986;21:3413–9.
[34] SAE International. Disc and drum brake dynamometer squeal noise matrix, surface
vehicle recommended practice SAE J2521; January 2006.
[35] Mikael E, Jacobson S. Tribological surfaces of organic brake pads. Tribol Int
2000;33:817–27.
[36] Osterle W, Dmitriev AI, Kloß H. Possible impacts of third body nanostructure on
friction performance during dry sliding determined by computer simulation based
on the method of movable cellular automata. Tribol Int 2012;48:128–36.
[37] Fehim F. Latest progress on tribological properties of industrial materials. Mater
Des 2014;57:218–44.
[38] Lee SM, et al. The correlation between contact stiffness and stick–slip of brake
friction materials. Wear 2013;302:1414–20.
[39] Jang H, Lee JS, Fash JW. Compositional effects of the brake friction material on
creep groan phenomena. Wear 2001;251:1477–83.
[40] Ostermeyer GP. On the dynamics of the friction coefficient. Wear 2003;254:852–8.
[41] Eriksson M, Bergman F, Jacobson S. On the nature of tribological contact in
automotive brakes. Wear 2002;252:26–36.
[42] Giannini O, Massi F. Characterization of the high-frequency squeal on a laboratory
brake setup. J Sound Vib 2008;310:394–408.
[43] Duffour P. Noise generation in vehicle brakes, thesis of philosophy. University of
Cambridge; 2002.
[44] Júnior MT, Gerges SNY, Jordan R. Analysis of brake squeal noise using the finite
element method: a parametric study. Appl Acoust 2008;69:147–62.
[45] Zhu B, Barton D, Brooks P. Effects of thermal deformations on the squeal
propensity of a simple automotive disc brake system. SAE technical paper 2008-01-
2532; 2008 〈http://doi.org/10.4271/2008-01-2532〉.
[46] Liu P, Zheng H, Cai C, Wang YY, Lu C, Ang KH, Liu GR. Analysis of disc brake
squeal using the complex eigenvalue method. Appl Acoust 2007;68:603–15.
[47] Lee SM, Shin MW, Jang H. Friction-induced intermittent motion affected by
surface roughness of brake friction materials. Wear 2013;308:29–34.